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Opinions please r1200rt vs k1200gt

Older iron butter getting back into the BMW market for a tourer. I owned a 1999 r1200rt and loved it. How do they compare to the K bike? What are the pros and cons?
How old am I? Well, my first BMW was a r90us.
I appreciate your opinions .............

Opinions please r1200rt vs k1200gt

Welcome back to the BMW market. I'm a 66 year old long time rider. My opinions may differ from yours, so I encourage you to throw a leg over a K1200GT and judge for yourself.

I have a K1200R Sport and I've ridden the R1200R naked bike. Although not exactly the RT or GT but the engines are close enough to draw some comparisons.

Both bikes have excellent road manners. I really enjoyed the R1200R, but fell in love with the K1200R Sport.

The K seems more refined. It's quieter and has very little shaking or vibrations compared to the R. It's so quiet that you can actually hear the electric fan when at a stop light!

The R has decent power, but the K is amazing - it's a real powerhouse and very smooth and linear in it's delivery. The K has great acceleration in any gear so you don't necessarily have to go down in gears to go up in speed.

I'm sure the GT will be more comfortable than my R Sport and it will offer a wide range of excellent touring oriented options.

Older iron butter getting back into the BMW market for a tourer. I owned a 1999 r1200rt and loved it.

Since the R1200RT came out in 2005, I assume you had a 1999 R1100RT, right? Between the RT and GT, the RT is lighter and nimbler, the GT is smoother and some would say more reliable/less maintenance required. I like boxers so that would be my choice. Ride both and see which you like better. Have fun choosing!

Mark M, St. Louis, '13 R1200GSThere are two roads in life; the dirty one is vastly more fun.

Hi Johnny ! Welcome back. I am not sure if you are aware of it, but Hebert BMW in Baton Rouge has become BMW Motorcycles of Baton Rouge and is on US-61 (Airline Hwy) about a mile north of the US 190 /Siegen Lane / South Sherwood intersection on the east side (northbound lanes). They have a good selection of all BMW models and you can test ride a lot of them. They even have the new scooters which are a hoot to ride ! They also have Moto Guzzi's to drool over.

Compare

Depends what year of 1200 RT. I Had an 07 K1200GT. I went through 2 fuel strips,traded it with the 3rd one dead. No way to service final drive without disassembling rear end(very, very critical). Cam chain prone to jumping a tooth or two, jumpimg one is enough to ruin your day!!!!!! Mine was making a lot of noise at startup waiting for the cam chain tensioner to pump up.. More $ for gaskets and special onetime use bolts than the cage and or new tensioner to keep chain where it's supposed to be. Oh, and while torn apart, change the chain guides, plastic you know. howeve the bike is super smooth and as a previous post said ,a ticket magnet. Traded for my 11 RT , wouldn't trade that bike for a GT even if they cost half as much and had a warranty that was twice as long

The K wedge motor has a much broader power band and more punch than the boxer motor. Its tranny is a lot noisier- the most prevalent noise on the bike is tranny whine. While the older brick isn't as powerful, I prefer it overall to the wedge - it has a lot fewer known problems (eg tensioner, cam chain. etc). The K GT feels lower than an RT and tracks better in long sweepers.

The RT has the almost indestructible boxer motor which is plenty smooth for a big twin but has a narrower power band. The real thing about the RT is that it is a better bike for long trips by a pretty big margin. Betters ergos, better weather protection. Its the one i pick for longer trips every time. The K bikes fit my mood for day rides and harder play but that's not always the agenda.

I've been able to get both bikes to have almost identical brake feel.

The K bike maintenance is a nuisance compared to the much easier for routine service R bike. Can be twice as much time and of course more $ if you pay a shop.

If I were buyng a K-GT again, I might look for a K1300 with all the upgrades. For the RT, my preference would be for a non-whizzie brake 07.08.09 hexhead. But those model year differences re modest compared to the model differences.

I've had older RTs and a K or two. I have to say that my 2011 RT engine seems as smooth as the Ks were, and there's seemingly a big improvement to the power band. To put it another way, the newer RTs seem more refined than the ones from just a couple years ago, so be careful what year bikes people are using for comparison. You really have to test ride a new RT then decide.

I've had older RTs and a K or two. I have to say that my 2011 RT engine seems as smooth as the Ks were, and there's seemingly a big improvement to the power band. To put it another way, the newer RTs seem more refined than the ones from just a couple years ago, so be careful what year bikes people are using for comparison. You really have to test ride a new RT then decide.

Exactly, the first hexheads have a quite narrow powerband but this is seemingly addressed with the camhead motor, 2010-on. Even a variable size/shape exhaust system contributing.